Walking for a Cure: The 3-Day Part VII: Almost There? Yeah, right.

Starting the 2nd day was much harder than the first. Then energy level of all the walkers was still very strong but it seemed like a very long day ahead of us. It did not take long for me to realize that I was not going to be able keep pace with my partner, L. I made a steady effort but several people passed me and H had to stop frequently to allow me to catch up. This time though, it wasn't my ankles that were bothering me, but my knee.

L had fallen back to keep pace with me for a while but just about a mile to the second pit stop we got scooped by a Sweep Van because the whole route was falling behind schedule. Each section of the route was scheduled to be closed down by a certain time and the stragglers who could not keep up were scooped by the Sweep Vans. But with my knee swelling up on me, I was grateful for the ride to the next pit stop. When I stepped down out of the van, I knew that I would be better off taking the bus to lunch then trying to continue to keep up with L.

Gratefully, I climbed the steps into the bus, took word puzzle book and a bag of ice for my knee. Each bus waited until it was full before it would take its occupants on to Lunch. It wasn't too long before that section of the route was closed down and the bus wasn't going to get any additional riders. I used my bandanna to tie the bag of ice around my knee, allowing the cold comfort to bring the swelling down and settled in for the ride to lunch. By the time L had walked to the lunch stop I had been there for almost two hours. I had been waited on by volunteers, had iced my knee twice over and had eaten my fill of lunch.

So I was in good shape to return the favor to L. Letting her sit and get comfortable at lunch I filled her water bottle for her and let her rant. There is such a thing as a "3-day mile" ... a mile that feels much longer than the measured mile. Both L and I were convinced that the mile marker signs for Pit Stops (1 mile to the next Pit Stop) lied. But now L was quite vocal that the signs leading up to lunch that day LIED and LIED outright. And it was after lunch on Saturday that I began to despise the term "Almost There".

Each time I heard someone say to us "almost there" I became less and less likely to believe it.